Philippine financial markets bleed on first trading day of 2022

Philippine financial markets opened 2022 on a negative note, dragged by ongoing concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic as cases in the country continue to rise.

The local stock barometer shed 81.36 points or 1.14% to 7,041.27. The broader All Shares index fell by 40.22 points or 1.05% to 3,777.90.

Over 722.427 million shares, valued at P4.262 billion, changed hands. Losers edged out winners, 141 to 66, and 40 were unchanged.

According to Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis Limlingan, investors were spooked by the continued rise in the coronavirus infections, not just in the Philippines but across global markets.

“Philippine shares started the first trading session in the red amid the recent spike in the daily COVID-19 cases seen across the globe, prompting investors to exit their positions,” he said in a mobile message.

The Philippines on Monday recorded 4,084 additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s active tally to 24,992. The total caseload not stands at 2.855 million, including 2.779 recoveries and 51,856 deaths.

The rise in cases caused the reimposition of the Alert Level 3 in the National Capital Region starting Monday, January 3. This will last until January 15, 2022, following the steep increase in new COVID-19 infections in the country.

COVID-19 concerns also translated to losses for the Philippine peso, which depreciated slightly to the P51.00:$1 level against its US counterpart on Monday.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael Ricafort also attributed Monday’s performance to the continued increase to the higher infection cases.

“The peso exchange rate little changed vs. the US dollar after the latest tighter restrictions on NCR with higher Alert Level 3 that could slow down economic recovery prospects and could also slow down importation activities, as new COVID cases reached new two-month highs and Omicron variant cases detected locally increases to 14,” he said in a separate mobile message. — RSJ, GMA News